Bachus Takes on Fed Over Capital One-ING Deal

By

Maya Jackson Randall

Sep 1, 2011 3:43 pm ET

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.) has pounced on the Federal Reserve’s decision to intensify its scrutiny of Capital One Financial Corp.’s planned acquisition of ING Direct USA. The argument: The bank is a rare “job creator” and regulators don’t want to mess that up.

“At a time of anemic growth and record high joblessness, unwarranted delays in the regulatory review process only add to the pervasive uncertainty that is holding back our economy,” Mr. Bachus said in a letter Wednesday to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. “Extending the comment period in this instance appears to be unnecessary given the publicly available information on this transaction.”

The Fed last week said it would hold three public meetings on Capital One’s plan to buy ING Groep NV’s U.S. online-banking business. In addition, the Fed announced it would extend the comment period on the proposal through Oct. 12.

Mr. Bachus’s letter comes as banks and many Republicans on Capitol Hill have voiced concern that the Obama administration and federal officials are hurting financial firms by hitting them with a slew of new rules and regulatory hurdles…

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